Mike Williams will not, in fact, see the field during his second stint with the Chargers. The veteran wideout is instead ending his career.
Williams’ agent informed the Chargers last night that his client is retiring, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. As a result, Williams will depart the NFL at the age of 30. He spent eight years in the league, the first seven of which came as a member of the Bolts.
Five players opened training camp on the active/PUP list when Los Angeles’ training camp started. Williams was among them, but players can be activated from that list at any time before final roster cuts are made and those situations often include relatively minor ailments. Even in the event Williams would have been forced to remain on the PUP list through the first month of the campaign, returning to action at some point would have represented much less of a surprise than today’s news.
Selected seventh overall by the Chargers in 2017, Williams made a minimal impact as a rookie. From Year 2 onward, though, he established himself as one of the league’s best deep threats. Williams averaged an NFL-best 20.4 yards per reception in 2019 while reaching 1,000 yards. He managed a career-best 1,146 yards two years later while thriving as a complementary wideout to Keenan Allen.
Just like Allen, Williams found himself playing elsewhere in 2024. One of general manager Joe Hortiz‘s decisions during his first offseason in charge was to move on from the pair and thus reset financially at the WR position. Williams was released in a cost-shedding move, one which was quickly followed by a one-year Jets agreement. Things did not go according to plan in New York, with the Clemson product only logging a 53% snap share and making 12 scoreless catches.
More to come…